Any web developer that is a master at their craft should know about these 15 Factors To Winning The SEO Race …and now you will too.
Winning the SEO race is a lot like winning a NASCAR race. Every little piece of the machine must be in top working condition. For example, if a car is perfect in every way except it has a busted radiator, rest assured it will not finish the race.
A simple google search of any type of business in your area will result in a page after page list of businesses. The ones on the top of page one are doing everything right (or better than the ones below them).
Brett Thomas with Rhino Web Studios in New Orleans has been developing websites for over 20 years and says, “If a website is to rank on the top of Google’s first page, it must pay attention to the 15 main SEO factors”
Here are the 15 Factors To Winning The SEO Race In 2022:
1. Page Load Speed
Google’s algorithm looks at many factors when determining a sites ranking, and page loading time is one of them. Image compression, minifying html, browser caching, AMP implementation and loading pages as the user scrolls down are several loading time factors.
2. Domain Authority
Domain Authority (DA) is a calculation developed by Moz that measures how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages (SERPs). It scores pages from one to one hundred, with higher scores relating to a greater chance of ranking. DA integrates lots of metrics related to the quality, quantity, and diversity of inbound links pointing to a web page.
3. SSL Certificate (Secure Socket Layer)
Having an SSL certificate is of prime importance to the page rank of a given website. An SSL Certificate is used to establish the reliability and trust of a website.
4. Social Media Presence
Social media is suitable tool to delivering web site traffic. If you share links to your page on your social media profiles, you can drive more traffic to your website. Shares, likes, and comments that a post receive are crucial signals which Google and other search engines use to rank your website.
5. Mobile Responsiveness
Responsive web design means that the site will adjust to fit the screen size of the device while still presenting the same page content as the desktop view. A website that isn’t responsive involves users to pinch, zoom in, or zoom out to read its content. Google recommends a responsive website design because it makes it easier for users to share and link to your content with a single URL.
6. Google Analytics & Sitemaps
Google provides a tool called “Google Search Console” which, when used properly, can greatly assist any webmaster in finding and fixing SEO issues and errors as well as creating and indexing the proper sitemap for your site.
7. Keyword Research
Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms that people are using most frequently to search for a particular product or service. There are many websites with tools available that assist in this research such as semrush.com and moz.com.
8. Competition Research
By digging into a business’ competitor websites, it can be determined what they are doing to rank higher and what needs to be done to beat them in the ranking game.
9. Image Optimization & ALT Tags
Image optimization is the process of providing high-quality images while keeping the smallest possible image size. Additionally, all images on a web site must have alt-tags embedded into the image so that Google knows what the image is about.
10. Streaming Video
Adding video to web pages is extremely effective in SEO for a few reasons. Video engages the audience longer and keeps them on the page. The longer an audience is on a page, the more value Google attaches to it. Video streaming from YouTube (which is a Google property) can be linked directly to a web site, thus improving its relevance.
11. Quality Back-links
Back-links are links to a website from other websites, and they are massively important to SEO ranking. Not just any back-links will work for increasing page rank, however. Links must come from sites with high domain authority and be from a relative site in order for the link to affect a page rank. For example, a link to a real estate website in Alabama from a bakery website in California will not hold the same weight as a link from a real estate news website in Alabama.
12. Header Tags
Header tags are HTML elements used to markup and separate headings and subheadings on a webpage. One of the most important functions of header tags is telling web browsers how to display content. Header tags should always include search terms and important keywords.
13. Google Reviews
Google wants it’s users to trust their search experience, and that is why Google reviews are so important. It lets Google know what businesses are getting higher reviews by real customers, and thus rewarding those websites with higher local business ranking.
14. GMB / Maps Optimization
Google Maps optimization can be a turning point to help maximize the local search exposure of a company. Being atop the Google Maps listings (both in the local 3-pack and Google Maps search results) is valuable for any business that’s marketing to a local audience.
15. Quality Content
When it comes to SEO, content is king. Google went on record in March 2016 that saying the most important search ranking factors are quality content, back link profile, and machine learning.
Google says that websites and pages should be created to help users. Sites that exist solely to make money, with no regard for helping users, are considered low quality.
For more information, reach out to Brett Thomas with Rhino Web Studios for a no obligation site audit and consultation.
